An early Spring Dip!

Will  close to an icy plunge

                                                        Exposed Water vole burrow in river bank

                                                             River Eye banks cleared

Tuesday was my first 2015 session with the Wildlife Trust at a sunny Greystones featuring a walk in the river Eye, fortunately in waders. The task was to cut back new growth of Willow along the banks of the Eye plus remove some substantial branches which spanned the river. This was a continuation of work done in previous years and would help promote the right kind of environment for the growing water vole population. The session was lead by Will and Richard with an unusually low number of volunteers {3 of us} to carry out the shrub clearance. Some care was required as the river levels were still high which meant there were stretches where the depth was too high even in waders. Fortunately no unplanned incidents took place and the work progressed well in the welcome sunny spring weather which attracted a fine looking buzzard flying low on the hunt for field voles or similar.

Kennels in Lodge Park's coach house grounds

Today at Sherborne,  on another fine spring day, the day was spent at Lodge Park and in particular in the coach house grounds.  The day was dominated by the felling of a number of squirrel damaged beech trees and the subsequent clearing of the associated brash. The usable wood was blocked by Mike and stored in the nearby outbuildings. Whilst the power tools were in use Ollie and Maddie were conveniently placed in the old kennels. They weren't too pleased with the imprisonment and on release made best use of their freedom which included hindering me as I built up a sizeable brash pile in the adjacent woodland. A busy day and part of the task to tidy up Lodge Park ready for its opening later this month.

A mixed bag in 'scorchio' feeling temperatures

Almost warm enough for Sherborne House swimming pool

Started the day early at Sherborne, with Ollie in tow, for the February bat count. Morris had another mission so he only had time for the count at the 'bat cave'. I was on safety with Ollie on security whilst Mike & Morris carried out the count at the bat cave. Temperatures both inside and outside the bat cave were higher than expected for this time of year {9C-11C }. The final count was 162 lesser horseshoes in the bat cave, 0 in the kennels, 1 in the bothy and 11 in the cellar giving a grand total of 174 appreciably higher than last years count of 153. 

Crocus enjoying the sun in the Pleasure grounds

Where's Ollie?

With blue skies and in the sun the temperatures feeling very warm I spent the lunch time walking Ollie in the Pleasure Grounds. The display of spring flowers was still looking good with daffodils beginning to flower. There was a distinct change from the previous week with only one dog walker seen during my circuit of the grounds and this allowed Ollie sole access to the 'play area' and woods which he took full advantage of

Contribution to the wood store!

Always time for play 

The afternoon began by loading wood from the wood store in the nursery and this proved more challenging than normal as both Maddie & Ollie decide that it would be fun to chase up and down the wood pile whilst we tried to load the trailer. The remainder of the afternoon was spent in checking the array of 'toys'/equipment & documentation [brush cutters, pole saws, chainsaws, mowers, tractors....] in readiness for the H&S check on Friday. As ever the 2 Springers proved as helpful as ever in the warm springlike weather outside but all building on Ollie's experience as a volunteer ranger.

An 'exuberance' of springers?

Guarding the wood piles

2 cheeky youngsters

playing near the Pleasure grounds ice house

fighting off a hungry Ollie and interested Pepper

Glorious weather at Sherborne today and a second introduction of Ollie to Pepper another energetic, young english springer. It was a day spent at the nursery where the Sherborne wood service was needed to complete pressing orders of wood supplies. Although Ollie and Pepper were happy with each other there were clear boundary rules set by Pepper on her den & toys at the estate offices so Ollie was to escort Mike and I to the nursery in the back of the 4x4.

Lunchtime was spent at the Pleasure grounds where Pepper happily showed Ollie around the woods at speed  whilst we enjoyed the good display of spring flowers {snowdrops, crocus, aconites} and ensured the dogs didn't interact too much with the 'half term' visitors. 

The afternoon was spent producing more wood and delivering loads to a nearby village and locally to Sherborne. Ollie had company in the afternoon with Mike's springer Maddie who as the adult managed to remain in her own world largely ignoring Ollie's attempts to play. The good news was Maddie accepted Ollie in the back of 4x4 with good grace. It will be interesting to see how the relationships develop between all the springers over the coming weeks. 

Slightly disturbed by the strange actions of the Forestry commission and Woodland Trust over this woodland in Northants, I have to hope this was an anomaly if not what other areas of woodland have or may suffer  in the future with similar development initiatives. Good news is a good outcome achieved in this case no thanks to FC, Woodland Trust or certain staff of the Northants district council.

Welcome return of our Dark Knight

It was good to see the return of Morris, given his health struggles over the last 6 months, for the January 2015 Bat count. Temperature outside the Bat cave was just over 5C and inside ranged between 7-9C. A healthy number of 148 lesser horseshoes was recorded in the bat cave, 0 in the Bothy & Kennels and 9 in the cellar giving a grand total of 157 a little down on last January's 170.

Dartford Warbler happy in Pittville Park

SEO Hawling

SEO vole dropped

SEO next vole lined up

Finally made it to Pittville park on Monday and was more than happy to catch the Dartford warbler, goldfinches and a mistle thrush on a wonderful sunny winters day. Also managed to fit in another visit to Hawling where the 4 short eared owls put on a great display with guest appearances from a pair of buzzards, red kite, barn owl, kestrel and a brown hare. I missed the peregrine falcon and little owl but who's complaining especially since in the distance was an impressive flock of golden plover & lapwing.


Update on Neonicotinoids from Martin Harper but will being proved right get the appropriate response. Summary of DEFRA from Mark A. with further comment on the 146 grouse moors under massive attack from 4 hen harrier pairs!

The Owls have it!

Not a bad start to 2015 at Hawling with Short eared owls, Barn Owl, Peregrine, Kestrel and a solitary hare all giving a good show to an appreciative audience. The action for me all kicked off at what looks to be an ordinary landscape at Hawling, from 3pm to sunset on a clear sunny day. I felt a little inadequate given the size of my kit but my extra manoeuvrability plus the very obliging birds which flew quite near to me made it all worthwhile. Must find time to get down to the Sherborne water meadows and the Barrington estate to see if I can match this experience!

Another year ends

decent shape to new hedge at Moors Copse

new hedge line looking good in fading light

Another year of volunteering came to and end this week with an afternoon at Sherborne followed the next day with a morning session at Greystones. The session at Sherborne was particular satisfying with hedge laying at Moors Copse. Attending were Mike and I with Maddie and Ollie along for the ride. Ollie had to be tethered as the hedge laying was next to the road and he didn't like it too much with a little too much whining for a 'special' ranger. Ollie's behaviour aside, the creation of a hedge using the existing hawthorn, field maple and hazel was very satisfying especially since I had the use of the Silki saw and Mike volunteered to work on the road side of the hedge line. Unfortunately the light and complaints from Ollie ended the session too soon leaving completion of this stretch of hedge for the new year. 

The work at Greystones with the Wildlife trust featured some serious shrub clearance over one of the water courses to allow it to be dredged next year to ensure efficient functioning in a flood protection context. A large turnout {~30 volunteers} marked the last session of the year, possibly influenced by a BBQ at Greystones which sadly I missed to ensure Ollie got his mid day feed. 

Overall another rewarding year on the volunteer front albeit with less opportunities due to weather and the arrival of Ollie. Look forward to next year with the possibility of a companion for Ollie and hopefully some more positive signs on the Conservation of nature & our countryside. 

Not a Norwegian Blue!

In the Commons, awaiting the arrival of the Xmas tree

Site of the Norwegian spruce, deep into the Commons

Mike preparing the Spruce for felling

Tractor ready to pick up the 18' xmas tree

Expert driving by Mike to deliver xmas tree to 4x4

Its that time of the year again, not appealing to me but I certainly don't have a problem with the majority who like their Xmas celebrations. So on a frosty but sunny morning I found myself driving the 4x4 with trailer down to the Commons, closely followed by Mike in the tractor. The pictures tell the tale since I left the 4x4 on the ride nearest to the site of Norwegian spruce one of which was to provide the Xmas tree for Sherborne House. The narrow and muddy track to the spruce was only passable by tractor so I followed on foot to the felling area. Mike armed with his new chainsaw first set to on some trimming of previously felled spruce. This helped to clear the area for the chosen spruce to be felled with what we believed was to provide a good 18 foot xmas tree, as well as valuable wood for fencing materials. Unfortunately once on the ground the top of the spruce proved to be unsuitable so we had to select another candidate. The next candidate lay nearby but on trying to move it we damaged the top. The next selection proved a failure as well with yet another 'split' top but fortunately the final selection came up trumps.

A perfect xmas tree but at 18 foot really tricky to first move with the tractor through the Commons to the 4x4 and then even more of a challenge to load it on the trailer so I could drive it back to Sherborne safely. Needless to say with the usual ranger expertise the tree was safely delivered back to Sherborne estate offices,  just in time for me to make my speedy return to Cheltenham to feed Ollie plus meet my fencing contractor.

A good summary by Mark Avery of the running saga on Hen Harriers and driven grouse shoots. The issue for me is not so much the general attack on conservation/nature but the fact that the small shooting {but highly influential} community with laughable arguments supporting their activities {including illegal use of lead ammunition and the killing of protected wildlife} are allowed to continue without too much fear of being held to account by any authority be it Defra and/or  Government. How can I prevent my tax from funding anti nature activities like this.  The shooting fraternity almost make the NFU look rational and reasonable {but not completely}. So what can be done to turn this around given solid, researched and reasonable arguments continue to fail. Little with this Conservative government it seems {but will any alternative be that much better} so is it any wonder that a more extreme conservation stance needs to be taken or do we just let our natural world wither on the vine with the greedy few forever dictating what the rest of us can hope to enjoy in 'our' natural world. Autumn statement impact on Environment curtesy of RSPB here.